Tecumseh football falls short in regional final

The Tecumseh High School football team's historic season ended in heartbreak.

The Indians, chasing their first regional title since 1991, moved the ball at will and led for most of Friday's Division 3 regional final against Battle Creek Harper Creek at Harper Creek Stadium.

Then everything changed. Harper Creek stole the momentum and scored the game's final 12 points. In a flash, it was over.

Harper Creek 26, Tecumseh 24.

"I don't even know what happened," Tecumseh quarterback Ben Dreslinski. "Their kids started to take over the game, and we started to fall apart."

Tecumseh (9-3) led 24-14 early in the third quarter. A Kasey Carson touchdown run and a safety brought Harper Creek (10-2) within one.

On the ensuing possession, thanks to two critical Tecumseh penalties, Harper Creek moved into field-goal range, and Alec Fisher booted a 25-yard field goal with 5:08 left.

"When we were in control, we were playing our ball game, and when they took over, they were playing their style," Tecumseh coach Al Romano said. "We left a lot of plays out here on the field and, quite frankly, didn't play our best football game and didn't coach our best football game.

"You can't do that against a quality program like Harper Creek."

The Beavers stopped Tecumseh on fourth-and-1 at the Harper Creek 31 with 2:58 remaining. Carson, who rushed for 198 yards, helped exhaust the clock with key third-down runs.

Harper Creek won its second straight regional title and fourth in school history.

"We're lucky to be moving on," Harper Creek coach Ed Greenman said. "I'm glad there wasn't another minute left in this game, because I'm not sure what the end result would've been."

Tecumseh compiled 566 total yards of offense (381 in the first half) and 24 first downs.

Dreslinski threw for 288 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for 95 yards. John Terry rushed for 148 yards with a touchdown and also caught a touchdown pass. Casey Hunt had six catches for 100 yards, Eric Eldred had five grabs for 91 yards and a score, while Spencer Adams had nine catches for 81.

Three turnovers and 168 penalty yards hurt.

"We did things that were uncharacteristic of our team all year," Romano said.

The Indians marched into the red zone on their opening drive, but threw an interception at the goal line.

Later in the first quarter, Tecumseh muffed a punt and Harper Creek recovered at the Indians 35. On fourth-and-11, quarterback Trevor Johnson rolled right and hit Carson on a deep post over the middle for the game's first score. The Beavers led 7-0 with 3:28 left in the first.

Tecumseh answered with Hunt's 23-yard field goal.

Terry gave Tecumseh its first lead with 7:55 left in the second. The senior running back rushed up the middle, jump-cut left and bolted down the sideline for a 59-yard touchdown.

Tecumseh scored again on its next drive. Dreslinski found Terry with a screen pass for a 16-yard touchdown, and the Indians led 17-7 with 3:19 left in second.

Carson's 37-yard touchdown run made it 17-14 with 2:01 remaining in the first half.

The Indians brought the three-point lead into halftime.

"We had a tough time answering them, but our kids had a certain grit about them," Greenman said. "At halftime we said, 'It's too early in the season for this season to end.'"

Tecumseh stretched its lead to 24-14 with 7:53 left in the third. Dreslinski's 23-yard strike to Eldred punctuated a 10-play, 89-yard drive.

Then everything changed.

The final chapter of this Tecumseh football season will go down as a loss. But the story will be remembered as a major victory for a program that looked to change its culture -- and succeeded.

"Everybody, the whole town deserves this," Terry said. "It was great to be a part of the team that gave it to them."

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